Wetherspoon's (business name J D Wetherspoon plc) is a pub chain operating in the UK and Ireland, with headquarters in Watford, Hertfordshire. Founded in 1979 by Tim Martin, the company owns over 1000 outlets. The chain champions cask ale, low prices, long opening hours, and no music. The company also operates the Lloyds No. 1 chain and a modest number of Wetherspoon Hotels. The chain has become known for converting large, unconventional premises into pubs. Premises tend to be large by British pub standards, and use an open plan layout. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

The chain began supporting cask ale when it was unfashionable to do so.[4]

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In 1979, Tim Martin opened his first pub, on Colney Hatch Lane in Muswell Hill, north London.[5] Many of the other early Wetherspoon pubs were also in the western part of Haringey. The J D Wetherspoon name comes from one of Martin's teachers in New Zealand who could not control his class,[6][7][8] and told Tim that he would never succeed in business.[9]

In the early 1990s, Wetherspoon began a policy of routinely selling off their smaller or less profitable outlets, often—but not always—replacing them with larger premises very close by. There are now around 100 ex-Wetherspoon pubs, and none of the earliest outlets in the chain is still part of the estate. The oldest surviving Wetherspoon is the Rochester Castle in Stoke Newington, opened in 1983.[10] Until the mid-1990s, when it began to expand across the country, most of the company's pubs were clustered around the Greater London area.

In 1998, Wetherspoon introduced over-sized glasses and promoted the "full pint".[11] This initiative was soon withdrawn, supposedly because customers were still asking for top-ups, but arguably because other pub chains did not follow their lead.[12]

Wetherspoon claimed to be "the only large pub firm which opens all its pubs early in the morning", serving breakfast and coffee as well as a full food menu into the evening.[13] Weekly food promotions include Mexican Monday, Steak club (Tuesday), Wing it Wednesday (Chicken club, Wednesday), Curry Club (Thursday), Fish Friday, and Sunday Club (traditional Sunday roasts).[14]

Wetherspoon hosts an "Ale Festival" in March/April each year, where a larger range of guest ales is available in each pub, and a "Cider Festival" in the summer.

In December 2013, the chain opened its 900th pub. [1] Around half are owned freehold; the rest are leasehold.

Wetherspoon half-year figures for March 2013[16] show revenue was £626.4m, up 10% for 26 weeks, however profits were fractionally down 2% to £52.1 million with the interim dividend maintained at 4p a share. In a statement, chairman Tim Martin said, "We believe there to be an overwhelmingly strong case for tax parity between pubs and supermarkets, since lower supermarket taxes help them to sell alcoholic drinks at extremely low prices, compared with those of pubs."

Ireland's first Wetherspoon's pub, The Three Tun Tavern opened in Blackrock, Co. Dublin, in July 2014.[19][20][21] In 2015, the Old Borough Public House in Swords, Dublin, was converted into a Wetherspoons Pub.

Wetherspoon also owns and runs a chain of hotels (known until 17 September 2009 as "Wetherspoon Lodges" or "WetherLodges" and since then as "Wetherspoon Hotels") in the UK. As of 2015, there are now 34 hotels in total covering England, Wales and Scotland. Very soon Wetherspoon's will open a 100 bedroom hotel in the centre of Dublin, Ireland.